Friday, December 30, 2011

The
generation of Christ was in this wise. When his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph
etc.
(Matthew 1:18)

St. Matthew makes it very clear
that Mary is truly the Mother of Jesus, and this is affirmed also in the other
Gospels many times over. Throughout the Gospels and in the Church’s Tradition,
Mary is called the Mother of Jesus. Indeed, we know that (because Jesus is one
divine person) Mary is truly said to be the Mother of God.

However, given that Mary is the
Mother of Jesus with respect to his humanity, why do we not call the Holy Spirit
the Father of Jesus? Since it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Mary
conceived, and since Mary is called the spouse of the Holy Spirit, why does the
Church refuse to say that Jesus is the Son of the Holy Spirit in his humanity?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory
as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John
1:14)

The mystery of the Incarnation
was effected by the Annunciation, nine months before Our Savior’s Nativity. The
Word was made flesh with our Lady’s fiat, and at that moment humanity was
joined to divinity in a personal union. The Child conceived is already a
perfect man, meriting the salvation of the whole world, praying in our behalf
and offering to God perfect worship. Further, Blessed Mary was already the “Mother
of God” at the Annunciation, for women are mothers from conception even before
giving birth.

Why, then, does the Church
celebrate the Birth of our Savior with greater solemnity than the Incarnation
itself (at the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th)?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Over the past week, we have
posted a few articles related to the temporal generation of the Son – on Mary’s
pregnancy [here],
on the miraculous birth itself [here],
and on the rational perfection of the Child conceived [here].

In these articles, we showed
that our Lady did not suffer any pain when giving birth to her Son, that the
physical closure of her virgin womb remained intact even in the very act of
giving birth (for Christ passed through without causing any harm to her
virginal integrity), and that the Christ Child already knew all created things
and loved each of us in his humanity from the very first moment of his
conception (thus, while an infant, he was already a rational man).

While all of these articles
were firmly rooted in the magisterial teachings of the Church and in the
doctrines of the Church Fathers, it is always good to compare our theological
insights with the lived faith of the great saints. We will not be the least
surprised to discover that the mystical revelations given to St. Bridget of
Sweden (surely, one of the greatest saint-mystics of the Church) wholly confirm
all that the saint-theologians have taught and all that the Magisterium has
declared.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

How
long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? for the
Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN. (Jeremiah
31:22)

St. Thomas Aquinas, following
the tradition of the Fathers (especially St. Jerome) reads this verse from
Jeremiah as a prophetic sign that the Christ Child, from the first moment of
his conception and while yet enclosed within the womb of the Woman Mary, will be a “perfect man” – which means that he will have perfect
use of both reason and will.

Though, in general, by the “age
of reason” we refer to around six or seven years of age, the real meaning of the
phrase is to specify the point in which a child attains to the use of reason
and free-will. When a child is capable of making morally significant decisions,
we say that he has reached the “age of reason”.

Some will be quite surprised to
realize that the Church has taught, in her ordinary Magisterium, that Christ
our Savior had use of reason from the very first moment of his conception.
While yet in the womb, our Lord was a rational man in regard to the powers of
his human intellect, though his body was yet that of a tiny child.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Church teaches de fide that Mary was a virgin before,
during, and after the birth of Christ our Savior. She conceived as a virgin,
she gave birth as a virgin, and she remains a virgin forever. Yet, we ask, What
does the Church mean when saying that Mary was a virgin “during birth”? What is
the mystery we contemplate in the third joyful mystery of the Rosary? Why do
the Popes and Church Fathers (together with the Doctors) insist that Christ’s
birth was “miraculous”?

While we will briefly consider
a few points from Scripture, our primary goal in this little article will be to
describe just what exactly it is that the Church means when she professes that
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The
angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a
virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s
name was Mary.

Familiar as we are with the narrative of St. Luke’s Gospel, we are tempted to take it for granted
that God sent the archangel Gabriel to announce the joyful news of the
Incarnation to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

Yet, of course, it did not need
to have happened that way. God could have forgone the Annunciation all
together. Or one of the Persons of the Trinity could have appeared to Mary
rather than sending an angel. Further, even granting that God chose to send an
angel – he could have sent a seraphim rather than an archangel, or he could
have sent Michael rather than Gabriel.

Why then did God choose to send
an archangel? And why did he send Gabriel?

Thursday, December 15, 2011

But
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”

The Gospel text recounting the
Annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary contains the
biblical evidence and proof that she had made a vow of virginity prior to her
conception of the Christ Child. Further, as we consider the historical
circumstances of her betrothal to Joseph, it will become quite clear that he
also had vowed perpetual continence as the spouse of our Lady.

Rather than discussing the universal
and emphatic teachings of the Fathers of the Church – all of whom assert that
Mary had made a vow of virginity – because such texts will often be ignored by
Protestants (to their eternal ruin), we will look simply at the Gospel text itself
and shall assert only those things which are affirmed also by the Evangelist.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

For nine months, the Blessed Virgin
Mary carried the Christ Child within her own body. She was “with child”,
pregnant. The body of our Lord grew within her over those nine months, and he
was sustained by the nourishment which was given him through her most pure
body.

St. John of the Cross, whose
feast we celebrate on Wednesday, writes beautifully of this mystery:

Del
Verbo divino

La
Virgen preñada

Viene
de camino

¡si
le dais posada!

With the divine Word

The Virgin heavy

Comes down the way

If only you'll
give her welcome!

During the season of Advent, we
await the Nativity of our Savior; and it is only natural that, meditating upon
the time before Christ’s birth, we should begin to ponder what the pregnancy
was like. In such matters as these – which touch upon the most intimate union of
our Lord and our Blessed Lady – we must write with great tenderness, caution,
love, devotion, and dignity.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

So
they asked him [John], “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am
not.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel, its
seems quite clear that St. John the Baptist is not Elijah – he even
specifically denies it saying, “I am not Elijah”. Hence, we ought to think that
John is not Elijah.

However, we may become confused
if we consider the Sunday Gospel in relation to the Saturday morning Gospel
(Matthew 17:9a,10-13) where Jesus says, “Elijah
will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already
come” … Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

The Savior makes this same
point even more explicitly when he says: For
all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to
accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come. He who has ears, let him hear.
(Matthew 11:13-15)

So, was or was not John the
Baptist Elijah? John denied it, but Jesus seems to affirm it.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The dogma of the Immaculate
Conception refers, as we know, to the blessed Virgin Mother of God as having
been preserved from all sin (including the stain of original sin) from the
first moment of her conception. The dogma, of course, is about the Immaculate
Conception of Mary – even though many Catholics mistakenly think it refers to
the virginal conception of the Christ Child.

Still, this common
misconception about the Immaculate Conception leads us to a further point of reflection:
Was Christ immaculately conceived? Our answer to this Christological question
will help us to understand the Marian dogma in a new light.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

As we prepare for the solemnity
of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Thomists are forced to
face the rather popular criticism: “You know, St. Thomas doesn’t know
everything. After all, he denied the Immaculate Conception!”

Beyond the obvious fact that no
good Thomist would ever hold that St. Thomas knew literally everything in the
first place, and the fact that nearly every person in St. Thomas’ day who held
the Immaculate Conception held the dogma in a heretical way (claiming that our
Lady did not need a Redeemer), and also the further point that most of the best
theologians of the 12th and 13th centuries also seem to
have denied the doctrine (including Sts. Bernard, Anselm, Albert the Great, and
Bonaventure, as well as Peter Lombard and Hugh of St. Victor); beyond all of
that, there is this little point: St. Thomas did not (most probably) deny the
Immaculate Conception after all.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

John
the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins.

St. John the Precursor is a
central figure of the Advent season and his baptism is set before us not only
this Sunday but also the following. But why was John sent to baptize in the first place?

What was the value of John’s
baptism? Was it a sacrament? Did it forgive sins? Did it confer grace? Why did John baptize? We will see that our answer directs us to the devotion with which we must receive our Lord in Holy Communion, and the role that confession plays in preparing the way of the Lord.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Church begins her
liturgical year with the disciple called first by the Lord. For, while it is
true that the Blessed Virgin, St. John the Baptist, St. Elizabeth, and St.
Joseph (in that order) all believed in the Messiah before him, St. Andrew is
the Protokletos, the first-called.

St. Andrew was the first
disciple of Christ Jesus in his public ministry – and in this sense, it is
fiting that his feast be celebrated at the first of the Church’s year.

However, there is a difficulty:
St. John tells us that Andrew was called in the place where John was baptizing,
but St. Matthew specifies that Andrew and Peter were called together while
cleaning their nets on the sea of Galilee. How are these two accounts to be
reconciled?

Monday, November 28, 2011

This past Sunday, in the
English speaking world, the new translation of the Mass was implemented. While
there were certainly many of little mistakes – most notably, the struggle to say “And with your spirit” – we all can recognize that these are of
no great consequence. Surely, we want to celebrate the Mass correctly, but a
mistake is only a mistake, right?

However, there is one area
where we recognize that a mistake could have serious consequences: What happens
if the priest does not say the words of consecration correctly? What if he confuses
one or two words, especially if he accidently says some portion of the old
translation?

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The
“Ask Father Ryan” page is back up and running [here],
after the comment box for the page had been out of service for over a month. It
seems that there were too many back-logged comments, hence (from now on) I will
occasionally go through and delete all the comments so that we can start fresh.

Additionally,
I have added a page “For Priests and Seminarians” [here]
which contains links to articles from the New Theological Movement which relate
particularly to the life and ministry of priests.

There are several new sets of links along the right sidebar – here I
have placed links to the two Catholic blogosphere centers that I check on occasion,
The Pulpit and New Advent. Additionally, I have added
links to the blogs that I read from time to time – certainly, there are many
other good Catholic blogs out there, but these are the ones which I personally
read and enjoy.

Finally,
if you have any comments regarding the layout of New Theological Movement
blog, please do let me know (leave a comment to this post, even anonymously). Is the NTM blog easy to use? Are there too many links, or
not enough? How well does the page load on your browser? What could Fr. Martin
and I do to make NTM better (on the level of design and format)?

Friday, November 25, 2011

As we enter upon the season of
Advent, the Church with all her children looks to the coming of the Christ.
There are, of course, three advents of our Savior: First, when he came as a
child (and this is the mystery celebrated on Christmas); second, when we will
come at the end of time (and this is the focus of Christ the King and of the
first days of Advent); and then a “middle coming”, when he enters the soul by sanctifying
grace.

This Sunday’s Gospel focuses on
the second coming, the Parousia, the
Final Judgment. Our Savior stresses that we do not know the day or hour of his
return, and therefore we must watch and
pray. Still, we may ask why it was that Jesus didn’t tell us when he would
return in glory. Would it not be helpful for us to know the exact time of the judgment?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

In this article we enter upon a
very sensitive question – Ought we (or even, Can we) pray for the young
children who have died before attaining to the use of reason? Thus, we consider
miscarried, aborted, and still-born children; as well as those who have died
after birth but before growing up. Additionally, we must consider what
difference the sacrament of baptism would make in regard to our praying or not
praying for these children. Further, we note that those who have never had
use of reason but have grown past the age of childhood (i.e. the severely mentally
disabled) are, for our purposes, included in the notion of “young child”
insofar as they have not attained to the use of reason.

In this article, we will
discuss certain points about the traditional doctrine of limbo (which is not
binding on any Catholic). I know that this will be a very sensitive subject - please recognize that, in spite of the great many possible theological opinions on limbo and other subjects, there are still some things we can say with great certainty regarding young children who have died. To ease the heart, I will say here at the beginning of the article that young children who have died (even without baptism) are most certainly in a state of perfect happiness and they know and love God while knowing that he loves them infinitely - but whether this is a natural or supernatural happiness, I do not know.

Monday, November 21, 2011

"Come my elect, and I will place in you my throne.And thus in Sion I have been established, and I rested in the sanctified city."

November
21st, Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

At
Jerusalem, the Presentation in the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of
God.
(Roman Martyrology)

As the Blessed Virgin, the true
Ark of the Covenant, enters the Temple at the age of three, the heavens rejoice
and earth is glad – for the long awaited promise of the Messiah is soon to be
fulfilled. Let us enter into a period of contemplation together with our Lady
in this season of Advent, may we prepare with her for the coming of Christ our
God.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him.

Following upon the particular
judgment (which occurs immediately upon death and determines the eternal
destiny of the soul, either ultimately in heaven or in hell), there is need
also for a general judgment. “The Last Judgment will reveal even to its
furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his
earthly life.” (CCC 1039)

If the particular judgment
reveals God’s sovereignty of each individual, it is in the general judgment
that the Lord “will pronounce the final word on all history. […] The Last
Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all injustices committed
by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death.” (CCC 1040)

But, will all be judged on the
last day? And will any be judges together with Christ? [we will rely especially on Summa Theologica Supplementum, q.89.]

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

In the month of November, it is
fitting that we think on the poor souls in purgatory. While it is a matter of
faith that the saints can pray for us, and likewise that we can pray for the
poor souls, there is no little question as to whether the souls in purgatory
can pray for us. While there is much popular devotion today – which seems also
to be supported by the experiences of certain more recent saints (for example,
St. Pio) – by which the faithful invoke the intercessory power of the holy
souls, it is good to recognize that the majority of the tradition is decidedly
against this possibility.

Granting that nearly every Church
Doctor has either implicitly or even explicitly held that the poor souls cannot
pray for us, is there any ground for imploring their intercession?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

He is the Angelic Doctor, the
Common Doctor, and the Angel of the Schools, but St. Thomas Aquinas is not the
“Universal Doctor”. Rather this title, Doctor
Universalis, has been given to the teacher and mentor of St. Thomas, St.
Albert the Great – Albertus Magnus.

Personally, this has become one
of my own pet-annoyances – so many people keep calling St. Thomas “Universal
Doctor” rather than “Common Doctor”. Still, this error is nothing in comparison
to the misquotation by which many credit the phrase “grace
builds on nature” to St. Thomas (even prominent, conservative bishops say this), when he
really said “grace perfects nature” –
and this makes all the difference in the world to a true Thomist.

Why is St. Albert called the
“Universal Doctor”? And how can we tell St. Albert from St. Thomas in Christian
art?

Saturday, November 12, 2011

To
one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one – to each according
to his ability. […] For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will
grow rich.

There is great danger in the
interpretation of this parable, for one may easily come to the false conclusion
that grace is given according to nature, in the sense that man merits grace
through his natural efforts – such would be the heresy of the Pelagians.

However, we know that grace
DOES NOT build on nature, rather (as St. Thomas said in the first question of
the Summa) grace perfects nature. Thus, it is not according to one’s own natural
talents, but according to the generous will of God, that one receives more
grace and another less grace.

In the final analysis, the
divine will alone must be credited with the diversity of graces among men.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Throughout the month of
November (and especially in the first eight days) the Church encourages her
faithful children to offer indulgences on behalf of the poor souls in
purgatory. Pope Paul VI states that this is a great work of charity and helps
us to grow further in charity and in communion with the Church (cf. apostolic
constitution, Indulgentiarum doctrina).

Still, we might wonder how it
is that an indulgence can be applied to the holy souls. Since the Church on
earth has no jurisdiction over the souls in purgatory, how can she provide an
indulgence to ease their sufferings?

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Though the New Theological
Movement blog rarely enters into matters liturgical or rubrical, preferring to
consider the more profound theological foundations, the re-introduction of the
use of black vestments in parish life seems to us to be so important to the
renewal of the faith of the people (at least in the USA, though most likely
throughout the world) that we must devote a post to this cause.

In the Novus Ordo – that is, the ordinary form of the Roman Rite which is
celebrated in most parishes in the USA (in English) – there is no reason why
black may not be used regularly. In the usus
antiquior – the extraordinary form – black vestments remain mandatory for
certain Masses. Let us consider the theological points first, and then we will
make a few practical conclusions.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The
foolish [virgins] said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps
are going out.” But the wise ones replied, “No, for there may not be enough for
us and you.”

Have you ever wondered why it
is that the wise virgins refuse to assist the foolish virgins by sharing a
little of the oil from their own lamps? Doesn’t it seem a bit odd that they
care more for themselves than for the others?

The great 17th
century Jesuit, Fr. Cornelius a’ Lapide and the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas (citing the tradition from the
Fathers of the Church) offer an answer.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

These early days (indeed, the
whole month) of November is a time specifically devoted to praying for the poor
souls in purgatory. How sad it is that relatively few Catholics even think of
the poor souls! Certainly, this woeful neglect on the part of so many is due
largely to the fact that few priests have been preaching about purgatory over
the past thirty to forty years.

I do hope that we all are
taking advantage of the opportunity to gain a plenary indulgence for the dead
each day between the first and eighth of November. The requirements for gaining
this special grace (from the handbook of indulgences) are:

1) To visit a cemetery and say
any prayer for the deceased (the person does not need to actually be buried in
that particular cemetery).

2) To be in the state of grace
when the work is accomplished.

3) To go to confession.

4) To pray for the Holy Father
(an Our Father and Hail Mary, as well as the Creed or the Glory Be, are the
traditional prayers).

5) To receive communion
devoutly.

6) To be free from all attachment
to sin (even venial sin).

Note: Communion should be
received on the day or near the day in which the visit to the cemetery is made.
Confession may be made several days before or after (and one confession
suffices for multiple indulgences [but communion must be received for each
plenary indulgence]).

Finally: Only one plenary indulgence may be gained each day
(excepting in the case of the moment of death, when a second may be acquired).

Additionally, the usual
requirements being met, a plenary indulgence for the deceased may be gained on
November 2nd by visiting a church or oratory and offering an Our
Father and the Creed.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Jesus
spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees
[…] preach but they do no not practice. […] All their works are performed to be
seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love
places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in
marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’

It should give every priest of
the New Law pause to recognize that the chief criticism which our Savior levels against the Pharisees is that they are vainglorious and ambitious. They
sit in the chair of Moses and have accrued to themselves great pastoral
responsibility, but have failed to exercise their authority for the good of the
sheep and have instead sought only to gain worldly honor for themselves.

As the Fathers and Doctors of
the Church consider this passage from Scripture, they comment on the danger of the vice
of ambition (and also the sin of vainglory) which can be so injurious to the
priestly vocation. Ambition in the priesthood can mean the desire for a “more important”
parish or a more prominent role in the diocese, but it is most especially typified
by the desire for the episcopal rank. The height of ambition and pride for a
(diocesan) priest is seen in his desire to be a bishop.

Is it lawful to desire to be a
bishop? What must the priest do in order to avoid the sin of ambition? For
direction on this point, we look to the greatest doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Friday, October 28, 2011

“In Persia, the birthday of the
blessed Apostles Simon the Canaanite and Thaddeus, who is also called Jude; Simon
preached the Gospel in Egypt and Thaddeus in Mesopotamia, and then they both
entered Persia and suffered martyrdom there, after having made subject an
innumerable multitude of that people to the yoke of Christ.” (Roman
Martyrology)

It is a minor point of irony
that both Simon and Jude share names with others of the Apostles – St. Simon,
of course, shares his name with St. Peter who was first called Simon; while St.
Jude has this name in common with Judas, the betrayer. Thus, St. Simon is
called either “the Zealot” (“Zelotes”) or “the Canaanite” in order to distinguish
him from the Prince of the Apostles, while St. Jude is called “Thaddeus” as
distinct from the Iscariot.

We do well on this day to
consider the person of St. Simon the Zealot: Who was he? Where was he from? Was
he a Zealot? And how did he die?

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

And he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats.

This topic has been beaten
around far too many times for my own taste – however, since the reading for
Mass today (Romans 8:26-30) contains what is probably the clearest doctrine on
hope in the whole of Scripture, and since the phrase for in hope we were saved inspired our Holy Father’s encyclical
letter on Christian Hope (Spe salvi),
it seems appropriate to offer a few brief reflections on the nature of hope.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

You
shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second
is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

“Which is the greatest
commandment?” Such is the question of the scholar who put our Savior to the
test. However, though this man was acting in behalf of the Pharisees, it is
clear from the Scriptures, that he in fact had a deep desire to know Christ
Jesus and to become his follower. The goodness of the man is more clear in Mark’s
Gospel where our Lord commends and encourages him saying, You are not far from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34).

The love of God and the love of
neighbor is the hinge of the whole moral life. In the final analysis, it is
love (i.e. supernatural charity) which determines our eternal reward – to die
with charity is to die in the state of grace and attain to heaven, to die
without charity is to die in mortal sin and to be condemned to the everlasting
punishments of hell.

What then is the nature of this
supernatural charity which fulfills the Law and the Prophets? Further, how does
the love of neighbor relate to the love of God?

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

“In Bithynia, the birthday of
St. Luke the Evangelist, who suffered much for the name of Christ and died
filled with the Holy Spirit. His bones were translated to Constantinople and
thence taken to Padua.” (from the Roman Martyrology)

It is well known that St. Luke
is an Evangelist and also that he wrote the Acts of the Apostles. He was a
disciple of St. Paul and accompanied the Apostle on several journeys.

Additionally, most know that
St. Luke had been a physician before his conversion. Beyond this, we may
wonder: Who was St. Luke? Moreover, why is he pictured by the symbol of an ox?

Monday, October 17, 2011

On December 20th, in
the Roman Martyrology, we read: “At Rome, the passion of St. Ignatius, Bishop
and Martyr; he was the third after St. Peter the Apostle to rule the Church of
Antioch, and in the persecution of Trajan was condemned to the beasts and sent
to Rome in fetters. There he was afflicted and tortured by the most cruel
torments in the very presence of the Senate. Finally he was cast to the lions
and, ground by their teeth, became a sacrifice for Christ.”

St. Ignatius of Antioch has rightly been
called the “Doctor of Unity” – both insofar as he brilliantly set forth the
doctrine of the unity of the person of Christ in two natures, and as he
defended the unity of the Christian people within the hierarchy of the Church.
As the unity of the single person of Christ cannot be properly defended without
admitting the diversity of his two natures, so too (we say by analogy) the
unity of the Church cannot be maintained without the diversity of hierarchical
vocations within the mystical body.

Today, in honor of our saintly Bishop
and Martyr, we consider the role of the bishops of the Church – specifically,
we do well to call to mind the special relation between the priests and the
bishops. [This is particularly important in our days, when many so-called “conservative”
priests rebel against the authority of their bishops.]

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Today’s saint, Teresa of Avila,
is honored by the Church as the “Doctor of Prayer” – and so indeed she is. Of
all the spiritiual treatises on the life of prayer, the writings of the
Carmalite Reformer stand at the head. From among these writings, it has been
recognized by many that “The Interior Castle” deserves a special pride of place
as the greatest (or, at least, one of the greatest) works on the nature of
prayer. Together with “The Dark Night of the Soul” by St. John of the Cross,
St. Teresa’s “Castle” is arguably the greatest treatise on the spiritual life.

Rather than considering, in
this little post, the progression of the soul through the seven mansions of St.
Teresa – which progress is the most often-noted aspect of the little book – we will
benefit greatly from a prior consideration of St. Teresa’s conception of the
soul in God, and God in the soul.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Then they handed him the Roman coin. He
said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.”

The
disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians sought to trap our Savior by
asking him the question of the tax – Is it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar? In
response to this, the good Jesus points out that the image of Caesar is on the
coin – but that we are to render to God what is God’s.

As
the Fathers of the Church read this passage, they recognize that the coin is
made with the image of Caesar, but man is made in the image of God.

It will be well for us to consider the historical debate among the Jews which set the stage for the question of taxation. We will then consider the manner in which man is in the image of his Creator.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

At
Paris, the birthday of the holy martyrs Denis the Areopagite (Bishop), Rusticus
(Priest), and Eleutherius (Deacon). Of these, Denis having been baptized by
Paul the Apostle, was ordained first Bishop of the Athenians; then, coming to
Rome, he was sent to France by blessed Clement the Roman Pontiff, to fulfill
the office of preaching, and arrived at Paris. After he had faithfully carried
out there for some years the work committed to him, at last he suffered martyrdom,
being slain with the sword with his companions after most severe torments by
the prefect Fescennius.

On
the same day, the memory of St. Abraham, Patriarch and father of all believers.

(Taken from the Roman
Martyrology)

Today is one of those days when
I am reminded how good the Roman Martyrology is. [see my earlier post on the
Martyrology, here]

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Though all people are invited to
the wedding banquet, only a few come. And, even from among those who do attend,
at least one is cast out. Our Savior’s parable from this Sunday’s Gospel should
give us pause – for he is speaking of the mystery of salvation and damnation.

Many
are called, few are chosen. But what exactly does our Lord mean when
he warns us that those who attempt to come to the feast without a “wedding
garment” will be cast out and rejected? What is the significance of this
garment, and how do we don it?

Monday, October 3, 2011

I will be on vacation and
generally unable to access internet for about the next two weeks, from today through
to October 14th. New articles will still be posted through a blogger
feature which allows me to schedule posts weeks (or even months) in advance.

However, although new posts
will go up (about three per week), there will be no comments allowed. This is
on account of the fact that I will not be able to moderate comments during
these days.

Thank you for your patience!

Posted by
Father Ryan Erlenbush

Saturday, October 1, 2011

While recognizing the intrinsic
evil of abortion, that is of each and every abortion in any and all
circumstances, there is serious difficulty in discerning how to bring a nation
from a pro-abortion stance to becoming pro-life. In particular, some generally
pro-life politicians (in various nations, including the USA) have agreed to vote
in favor of certain legislative bills which are pro-abortion in cases of rape
and incest. These pro-life politicians justify voting in favor of the
pro-abortion bills by claiming that the bill (though still pro-abortion)
restricts abortion and begins to move the nation gradually to a pro-life
stance.

Indeed, there are some
politicians who, while stating that they are pro-life and are against all
abortions, nevertheless also state that they will pass legislation which (while
restricting abortion overall) allows for abortion in cases of rape and incest.

Can a good politician vote for
such a bill or hold such a stance? Can a pro-life politician vote in favor of
allowing abortions only in extreme cases (e.g. rape or incest)?

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and
Raphael are the only three angels mentioned by name in the Scriptures, and they
all belong to the same choir of angels: The archangels.

From St. Dionysius and St.
Gregory the Great, we learn that there are nine choirs of angels which are
gathered into three sets of three. But where are the archangels in this list?
Are they toward the top of the bottom? The answer may surprise you!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

This coming Sunday has been
designated by the bishops of the United States as “Respect Life Sunday”. As we
pray and work for an end to abortion, it is well to remember that there is a
profound connection between the prominent use of birth control in a nation and
the legalization of abortion: As Pope Paul VI foresaw in his encyclical letter Humanae Vitae, contraception will always
lead to abortion (if not for each individual, at least for the society as a
whole).

However, there are many good
and faithful Catholics in the Church who question the relation between
contraception and natural family planning. Does NFP have a “contraceptive
mentality”? And, even if NFP can be used well, is it possible (or even likely)
that many people in fact use NFP with a contraceptive mentality? What are the
circumstances in which a couple may licitly use natural family planning?

Saturday, September 24, 2011

If
he turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just,
he shall preserve his life.

Both the first reading from the
prophet Ezekiel and the parable which our Savior offers in Matthew 21:28-32
(the parable of the two sons, the one who would not work but converted and the
other who said he would work but did not) hint toward the reality that what is
most important of all is the manner in which we finish. Certainly, the
beginning and the middle are important, but the end or the finish makes all the
difference.

In a stage of the Tour de
France, it is possible for a rider or (more likely) a small group of riders to
lead the day for over a hundred miles (this is called a break-away from the pelaton); however, it almost always
happens that the main pack of riders (i.e. the pelaton) will catch this small break-away with less than a mile to
go before the finish. Having led the stage for all those miles, the break-away
group will lose all hope of victory in just the last minutes of the several
hour long day of racing. What is most important is how one finishes.

So it is with the life of
grace. Certainly, it is important to start well and to live in Christ’s grace
throughout life, but what is most important of all is to die well, to finish
well, to complete one’s life with the grace of final perseverance. This alone
will bring us to heaven: We simply must die in the state of grace.

However, the Church teaches
that we cannot merit this grace, not even by a holy life. How then do we gain
perseverance and eternal salvation?

Friday, September 23, 2011

Last year on the feast of St.
Pio, I wrote a little article about the mysterious gift of bilocation. In that
article, which you can read here, I pointed out just how great a mystery this
phenomenon truly is. Today I would like to revisit this discussion, including
some of the major lines of response which people took in the comment box.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The
birthday of St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist, who suffered martyrdom in
Ethiopia while engaged in preaching. The Gospel written by him in Hebrew was
found by his own revelation during the time of Emperor Zeno, together with the
relics of the blessed apostle Barnabas. (From the Roman Martyrology)

Caravaggio’s masterpiece
depicts the calling of St. Matthew, who was once a tax-collector but became
both an apostle and evangelist. The calling of Matthew is most clearly
described in Matthew 9:9ff. However, it is interesting to note that both
Luke and Mark seem to describe the same scene, only they give a different name
for the publican, calling him Levi.

Thus, we are led to consider
why it was that Luke and Mark called Matthew “Levi”, and why Matthew called
himself by his own proper name. Moreover, we must consider the meaning of these
two names, and what mystery is hidden behind the conversion of the son of
Alpheus (not of the Alpheus, called Cleopas, father of James and Jude; but the
son of a different Alpheus).

Monday, September 19, 2011

There has recently been quite a
fuss over a
rather simple blog-post from Stacy Trasancos over at Accepting Abundance. In her post,
Dr. Trasancos expressed her frustration about having her young children exposed
to public displays of homosexual affection while simply trying to enjoy a day
at the park. The story should have ended here.

However, a handful of very
hateful atheists and homosexuals (as well as a large number of more moderate individuals
from the anti-Catholic, pro-choice, pro-gay sub-culture) have been stampeding
her blog and writing about her all over the internet.

In this post, I do not intend
to get into the particulars of this situation. I will simply state that I have
great respect for Stacy, that I have been keeping her and her family in my
prayers (since they have received death threats), and that the blog Accepting Abundance is
an excellent site and one of the few blogs that I find to be worth the time of
regular reading. Please pray for Stacy, and consider sharing a word of support
for her work over in the comment box of her blog. If you have blog yourself,
why not make a post in support of her? We need to speak out when a woman and
her family are receiving death threats.

What I do propose to consider
in this little article is the question of whether it is bigotry to think that the
State (not specifically the USA, but any nation in general) ought to enact laws
restricting homosexual and other deviant sexual behaviors in public. I am not trying
to prove that any particular nation should (at the present moment) impose laws
outlawing homosexual PDAs [public
displays of affection]; rather, I am proposing a hypothetical question: Am
I a bigot, if I think that homosexual PDAs should be illegal?

[for the record, Stacy
Trasancos did not claim that homosexual PDAs should be illegal; as I understand
it, she only stated that they made her uncomfortable and that she did not want
to have to expose her children to them]

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The homily of Father Ryan Erlenbush for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, on the parable of the workers in the vineyard.Time is a great gift from God, it is the opportunity both to convert from sin and to merit greater glory.The parable of the vineyard laborers is really all about the ages of the history of salvation.Father Ryan's Sunday Sermons: The gift of time, Sermon of September 18th

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The
kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for
his vineyard.

As the Fathers of the Church
consider the parable of the landowner who hired laborers throughout the hours
of the day and, at the end of the day, paid them all the equal daily wage (i.e.
one denarius); they recognize that the reward of heaven is equal on one level,
insofar as all receive the one denarius (signifying the eternity of heaven),
and diverse on another level (insofar as each receives a diverse glory
throughout eternity).

What is more, the Church Fathers
see that the various workers called at the diverse hours of the day (the third,
sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours) represent the progressive covenants which God
established throughout the ages.